Kaizen
by tanabatadreams
Summary: It was her, she was the one. He'd always known that. But after a lifetime as an avenger, living only for hate, this love inside him felt foreign. Unnatural. His mind's instinctive response was to reject something that didn't belong in him. But every time he looks into her eyes and sees the same love he has seen in them since he was twelve, he wishes he were a different man.
1. Prologue

**A/N: This story takes place after chapter 700. Sasuke is travelling around the world but keeps visiting Konoha now and then.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto.**

The gates of Konoha came into view, looming tall and and mighty, a testament to the powerful village that lay beyond them.

For now though, the village still basked in lazy slumber, letting the first rays of dawn slowly warm the rooftops.

Despite the silence of the early morning, the guards didn't sense the figure approaching until it was only a few steps away. At once their muscles coiled, ready to spring into action, until recognition washed over them and their shoulders sagged. Stepping aside, they let the stranger continue down his path. There was no need for identification. Those eyes were unmistakable.

Unflinching, Uchiha Sasuke walked into Konoha.

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* * *

The sun rose higher and Konoha sprang to life. Children raced across streets laced with hawkers crying for the attention of the people passing by. The Hokage Tower, residing further away from the bustling heart of the city, seemed quieter in comparison, but only on the outside.

Inside shinobi darted across the corridors carrying paperwork and shouting orders, overenthusiastic genin teams waited for audience with the hokage so they could receive their missions, chuunins and jounins lined the hallways waiting to file their mission report.

The doors to the tower swung open and a vision of black made its way across the hardwood floors. Hushed whispers broke out among the seated shinobi as their eyes followed his path to the door of the hokage's chamber. Without so much as a knock, he opened the door and stepped inside.

"I'm sorry, I wish I could help but- oh, hey bastard! There you are! I've been expecting you" Naruto stopped mid-sentence to address the new presence in the room. "What took you so long? The guards reported your arrival hours ago."

"Hn. I had to make a few stops on the way." Without clarifying any further, Sasuke turned to look at the other figure in the room.

"Hey Sasuke-kun. How was Ame?" Sakura inquired.

"Wet." he deadpanned and Sakura let out a giggle. It didn't escape Sasuke's notice that fatigue seemed to weigh down on every inch of her body, adding more years to her nineteen year old face. Nor did he fail to grasp how her braided hair was longer than the last time he saw it, reaching down to her shoulder blades.

But Uchiha Sasuke is not a man of many words and he refrained from voicing his observations. Instead he turned his attention back to the Hokage. "Dobe"

"Just a minute, Sasuke. Let me finish up with Sakura first." The blonde wonder looked towards his female teammate. "Sakura-chan, you know how much I love you and if I could, I'd do everything in my power to help you, but I just don't have the funds right now."

"Dammit Naruto, the hospital needs money! We're understaffed and our equipment is outdated. What's more important than the hospital?" Sakura gritted out.

"I get that Sakura-chan" Naruto sighed "But as part of the peace treaty, Konoha is helping other villages that haven't recovered from the war to get back on their feet. With all the money going into rebuilding them, there isn't much left for the hospital right now."

Sakura's brows furrowed. "Fine. But as soon as money comes your way, you're diverting some to the hospital. I understand treaties with other villages are important, but don't forget Konoha comes first."

"You got it, Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned as bright as the sun.

Smiling, Sakura shook her head. She had walked into the hokage's office determined to secure funds for the hospital, but every time she saw Naruto's weary face, she felt guilty about adding to his burdens.

Pivoting on her foot, she turned towards the door. "Matane, Naruto" she stuck her hand out in a half hearted wave. "Welcome back, Sasuke-kun".

"Aa."

* * *

 **A/N: Hello! This is my first attempt at fanfiction, and I'm really excited about this new venture! I know this chapter is kinda short but I'll try to make the subsequent chapters a little longer. Like I said, I'm only starting out so I'm not very familiar with the ropes. If there are any formatting errors, please let me know what they are and how to fix them. Thank you for reading, reviews would be lovely!**


	2. Chapter 1

**EDIT: I uploaded this chapter earlier today and deleted it. I decided the length was too short and added another scene to this chapter. If you read the chapter in the morning, make sure you scroll down and read the last scene again. Sorry about the confusion!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Sakura dragged her feet along the path that lead her away from the main hospital building and into the surrounding garden. Her limbs felt like lead as she plopped herself down on a bench overlooking a bed of dahlias.

Heaving a deep sigh, she let her eyelids fall shut.

Only to have them pop open again the next minute.

She didn't have to turn around to know who that powerful aura belonged to.

"Sasuke." her voice ringed of surprise. "You're still in Konoha? It's been-" her eyerbrows scrunched "-five days?"

"Six." he responded, bypassing her first question. Sakura sighed again. Every day followed the same routine, all her days were spent at the hospital and after a while it became difficult to tell the days apart.

"Oh." she mouthed. Her head rose so she could meet his eyes. "So what brings you here?"

Wordlessly, he crossed over to the other side of the bench and sat down. He lifted the sleeve of his black t-shirt and held his arm out to her.

Sakura propped herself up straighter and examined the laceration on his forearm.

"How'd you get this?" she inquired as she tried to inspect the depth of the cut and what might have caused it.

He only shrugged.

"It's been healed before." she remarked.

"Aa, an old man outside Ame looked at it." he replied "He healed it a little and said the rest would heal naturally."

Sakura bit her lip and nodded. The old man was right, she thought, it would heal naturally, but Sasuke isn't a patient man. The wound was probably the only reason he was still in Konoha. On his other visits he'd only stay a day or two at a time, never staying longer than necessary. His patience with nature must've lasted five days before it ran out.

Sasuke was mentally debating whether he should ask Sakura to look at it another time given her exhausted and chakra deprived state or simply walk away, but before he could do either he felt warmth soak through his arm and travel down his body in waves.

The ethereal green glow around her hands disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. He glanced down at his arm to find not even the slightest indication that there had been a wound there only seconds ago.

Sakura leaned back against the bench once more as Sasuke nodded in thanks. He got up to leave when Sakura's voice stopped him.

"Ne, you can stay Sasuke-kun. The flowers are beautiful this time of the year." her eyes remained fixed on the wide expanse of blossoms before her.

With his wound healed, Sasuke was ready to depart from Konoha next morning, but as he swept his eyes across the garden he thought it wasn't like he had to return home to prepare for his departure. He never unpacked.

Without saying a word, he sat back down.

* * *

They sat there in comfortable silence until a frantic medic rushed out the hospital door and informed Sakura that her presence was required in the operating theater.

Scrambling towards the building, she mouthed an apology in Sasuke's direction and he took it without a word.

The next time they saw each other was eight months later.

* * *

Sakura took measured steps towards the hokage's office. An ANBU messenger had appeared on her window sill this morning informing her to receive a mission from Naruto later in the day.

Inside the office she saw Naruto behind his massive oak desk, every inch of the rich wood covered by papers and scrolls.

To her right sat Sasuke on an old, green sofa, mild amusement shining in his eyes as he looked at the young hokage frantically shuffle through the papers. Of course, Sakura knew of his presence before she even stepped into the room. She had sensed his pulsating chakra when she stepped into the the vicinity of the hokage tower.

"Sasuke-kun! You're back. Where'd you go this time?" she quipped.

"Kumo" he answered, eyes never leaving the blond.

"Aa" she acknowledged. Turning over to face Naruto, she asked "You summoned me, Hokage-sama?"

"Aw, don't call me that Sakura-chan! And yes, I have a mission for you. There's been some sort of disease outbreak in Suna and they need assistance" he said. "I'd send someone else but Gaara personally asked for you."

Sakura pursed her lips. True to his word, Naruto had directed money towards the hospital and with the increase in staff count, she'd finally been able to relax a little. She was hoping to see Ino and catch up on some reading in her free time.

Although, she supposed, maybe leaving the village wasn't such a bad idea. It had been over an year since she last took a mission.

"Alright." Sakura said. Naruto nodded and threw a scroll her way which she deftly caught. "Thanks Sakura-chan!"

She nodded at him and then looked at Sasuke. His features were set into a scowl as he gazed out the window behind Naruto. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she took in his sharp, angular face and his mismatched eyes but her face didn't betray a thing. Turning around, she walked towards the door.

"Ja ne, Naruto, Sasuke."

.

* * *

She returned from Suna a week later. The mission was simple and the epidemic was handled swiftly. Suna's hospital was smaller than Konoha's but very efficient, when she left most patients were well on their way to recovery.

Crossing the gates of Konoha and nodding in greeting to the guards, Sakura made a beeline towards the hokage tower. After submitting her mission report she walked home to her apartment only to be greeted with an empty fridge.

Cursing under her breath, she changed out of her shinobi attire into civilian clothes and made her way out the door with the intent to stock up on groceries.

She walked down the streets of Konoha, smiling and nodding as she came across old friends and patients on the street, occasionally stopping for a chat. But when another familiar face came into view, her feet halted.

A little ways ahead of her stood Sasuke, critically examining a tomato from a fruit stand.

Her eyes widened in surprise. She didn't expect to see Sasuke in Konoha after a week. Worry filled her as she ran a cursory glance over his body, expert eyes looking for any signs of injury.

She found none.

Still frozen in place, her eyes widened in realization of what this could mean. Sasuke turned his head in her direction.

Their eyes met and she smiled.

* * *

Placing one stiff foot after the other, Sasuke retraced his path out of Konoha. He knew his journey of redemption was far from over, and he still hadn't found it in himself to forgive Konoha completely for what they did to the Uchiha.

So why was he finding it difficult to leave?

Grinding his teeth together, he crossed the threshold of the leaf, moving towards the dense forests ahead. With practiced ease, he jumped from treetop to treetop while his mind wandered back to Konoha.

He had arrived at the village with the intention of informing Naruto about the activity on the border, restocking his supplies, and then leaving. That should have only taken him a day, two tops. So why had he stayed a week?

 _'Because you're a fool'_ his mind answered in contempt.

He was sitting in Naruto's office when he sensed Sakura's chakra nearby. He figured she was there to discuss hospital matters again.

But no. The dobe was sending her on a mission, alone no less. He knew Sakura was an adept kunoichi, maybe the strongest he'd seen, and it wasn't even a combat mission so there was really nothing he should have been worried about.

Which is why he was finding it hard to explain to himself why he had stayed in Konoha till he was sure she had returned.

Sasuke Uchiha is no delusional fool. He knew Sakura was more than his teammate. She was one of his most precious people. Of course it was justified to be worried about someone you just cannot afford to lose.

But the dobe was his friend too. And he never felt the kind of relief when he saw Naruto after a mission as he did when he saw Sakura in the market that afternoon. Unharmed.

Shaking his head, Sasuke picked up speed, putting more distance between him and Konoha. As if distance could drive away the pink and green that plagued his mind. Looking down at the arm that Sakura had healed months ago, Sasuke wondered if it had anything to do with how he got wounded in the first place.

Closing his eyes, he tried to drive away the memory of the girl in Ame screaming for help, and how all his ninja training left him as he quickly stepped in and shielded her with his body from the thug's Kunai.

He tried to forget how her pale red hair had looked pink in the dim light.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, that's chapter one. I'll be updating weekly but I thought I'd upload the first chapter earlier, so you have an idea where the story is heading. The plot will revolve mostly around Sasuke's visits to Konoha between his travels and the progress he makes with Sakura. If you liked the chapter (or didn't) then please drop a review! I'd love to hear your thoughts about the story.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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* * *

The axe hit the bark of the tree with precise, calculated force, and in only a few strokes the tree fell to the ground. Sasuke staightened his back and looked around.

He was travelling through lightening country, and arrived at a local farming village three days ago. The village's sole inn was undergoing repairs and a local farmer, noticing his fit physique, allowed Sasuke to stay in his shed in exchange of some help around the farm.

Wiping sweat off his brow, more from the heat than physical strain, Sasuke walked towards his lodging that was a dingy old shed at the edge of the farmer's property. But Sasuke wasn't one to complain. All he wanted was some shelter from Lightning's unprecedented thunderstorms. Plus the farmer's wife was a good cook and they didn't ask too many questions.

Still, it was time for him to get moving again. With the work allotted to him done, Sasuke head out towards the village marketplace to stock up on supplies. The village was far detached from any ninja village so he had no hope of finding any weapons, instead he browsed for medical supplies and food.

Moving through the dried foods aisle, he overheard two old women talking in the next aisle.

"I heard Tsukishima is heading out to Tohuko."

"Yes. There's been a breakout of some sort of disease, they've called in neighboring villages to send help immediately."

"Aa. Tsukishima is a doctor, ne? Is it contagious?"

"I don't know about that. But I know they have contacted neighboring ninja villages for help too, so it must be serious."

"This is indeed worrisome. I heard there was an epidemic at Suna a few months ago. I bet this is another sort of ninja tomfoolery and we civilians are caught in the crossfire."

"Aa. I agree. We never should have adopted shinobi villages, those pests are nothing but trouble!"

Sasuke frowned as he moved away. Walking towards the clerk, he pondered over his next course of action. His initial plan was to cross Lightning country and go to Shimogakure, but then again his plans were never concrete. He was a wanderer, there was nowhere he had to be.

Furthermore, it seemed to him that the old women might be right in their suspicions. Given the recent epidemic in Suna, it was possible this was some form of biological warfare. Placing the right amount of ryo on the counter and picking up his goods, Sasuke left the store deciding the lead was worth investigating.

He arrived at the farm mid-afternoon, and walked up to the farmer's house to inform him about his intention to leave by nightfall. The farmer's wife insisted he had lunch with them instead of at the old rickety shed, and he found no way to refuse without being impolite.

Sitting down with his feet folded under him, Sasuke let the boisterous old woman construct a small mountain of food on his plate. Nodding in thanks, Sasuke picked up his chopsticks and ate in small, dignified bites.

"So where are you headed, Sasuke dear?" the old woman inquired.

"A town called Tohuko." Sasuke replied after swallowing.

"Oh dear, maybe you should wait. I heard there's an epidemic of some sort going on over there."

"Aa. I'm aware. That is what I'm going to investigate."

Finishing his meal, the farmer stood up.

"You are a sturdy young man, look after yourself over there. Don't be reckless."

Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement as he watched the farmer exit the room and retire into his den. Finishing his own meal quickly, Sasuke thanked the woman for the meal and cleared the table.

Walking back to the shed, Sasuke's thoughts wandered to the conversation he had heard at the store.

' _They've called in neighboring villages to send help immediately'_

There was one medic in the hidden villages that was revered by all. Every time an epidemic broke out, villages scrambled to get her assistance. She was the one who was personally requested by the kazekage to treat the outbreak in Suna.

Would she be there, too?

Sealing all his belongings into a scroll, Sasuke left the shed and took the path that lead out of the village.

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* * *

It took him two days to travel to Tohuko, a small seaside town at the edge of lightning country, and immediately upon his arrival he sensed a familiar chakra in the vicinity.

Composed, collected, calm, unlike the turbulent chakra of most shinobi. He had years of familiarity on his side, but even a stranger could pick out Sakura's chakra from countless other ninja's.

Following the chakra signature, Sasuke found himself at the doorstep of an old, but well maintained two story building. Upon entering it became clear that the building was a house converted to a makeshift hospital. Beds lined the walls, mattresses were laid out on the floor and the far end of the room housed two desks and a massive shelf filled with vials.

"Ah, Sasuke. What brings you to Tohuko?"

Turning around, he spotted Sakura coming down the stairs from the room above, wearing her doctor's coat with her hair tied up in a messy pony tail.

"You don't seem very surprised."

"I sensed your chakra when you entered the village. That doesn't answer my question, though." She replied, walking towards the scroll covered desk.

"Hn."

"Chatty as ever, ne Sasuke-kun? You must've heard about the disease breakout. Are you here to investigate if it's a tactical strike?" She said, answering her own question.

"Is it a tactical stike?" Sasuke countered in a way of answering.

Frowning, Sakura skimmed over a scroll she had picked up from the desk.

"It might be. When I arrived here, I thought I was encountering the same disease I treated in Suna. All the symptoms were the same."

She pulled out a chair, turned it to face towards Sasuke, and sat down.

"But when I carried out the same treatment I did in Suna, it didn't work. It's only been a few months and it's already developed resistance. The chances of that occurring naturally are slim."

"So you think someone is testing out a new biological weapon?" Sasuke frowned.

"Possibly. The disease in Suna took a lot out of the patient, but it wasn't fatal. But this-"

She sighed.

"-this is much more aggressive. Almost like it's tailored to kill."

"Hn." Sasuke's shoulders stiffened. "Have you found a cure?"

Sakura sighed once again. "Not yet, no. We thought we were making some progress, the first patient that was brought in had a tremendous improvement and we thought we were onto something, but this morning he suddenly began convulsing. We tried to save him, but it was in vain."

Her shoulders sagged.

"The worst part is, I still can't pinpoint what induced the convulsion, and now all the other patients are beginning to deteriorate too."

Sasuke frowned. It had been years since he had seen Sakura look so defeated. These days she was so self-assured, not arrogant, but confident in her abilities. Seeing her this way almost sent him six years back in time.

His mind was a flurry of questions; how did the patients catch the disease, what was the incubation period, was it contagious, what were the symptoms. But before he could voice any of them, a medic ninja came sprinting towards them.

"Sakura-san! Come quickly! Another one of them is convulsing!"

Without sparing Sasuke another glance, Sakura shot out of her chair and ran up the stairs.

.

* * *

Sasuke lingered downstairs for a while, unsure if he should follow or not, but eventually decided on the former.

Making his way upstairs, the first thing he noticed when he reached the second floor was how all the patients on this floor were in a far worse condition than those below.

The second thing he noticed was a young man writhing violently as medics on all sides pinned him down and Sakura let her chakra flow through him.

He watched as the man's face contorted in expressions of pain, the tips of his fingers and toes darkened, and blood leaked from his nose and ears. His screams of agony ricocheted off the pale white walls of the room.

Until suddenly they stopped. The screaming died down, the man stopped twisting and turning, the medics around him stood agape.

Sakura, too, had a look of surprise on her face. She stared at the body for a long time, and then she frowned and declared "Time of death, 3:30 PM. Open up the body and look for what might've caused the convulsions to begin."

She lingered by the bedside for a while, then turned around and walked in the direction Sasuke was standing.

"Does he have any family?" she asked the medic standing a little behind Sasuke.

"Uh, yes ma'am, uh. A wife. She was here in the morning." He stammered.

"Send someone to fetch her" Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose.

"H-hai, taichou!" said the medic as he scurried down the stairs.

Sakura and Sasuke also followed him downstairs, although at a far more relaxed pace.

When they arrived at the base of the stairs, Sakura spoke.

"Well Sasuke, I have to go help with the autopsy to see if I can find something. I'm sorry I can't answer your questions right now, but you can look through my notes, they're over by the desk." She said, nodding in its direction.

Sasuke said nothing as he made his way over to the desk and settled down in a chair with the scroll.

He squinted, trying to decipher Sakura's hurried notes. Some of the technical terms made no sense to him and for a minute he was almost intimidated. But then again, even in the academy, Sakura's intelligence was unparalleled.

He was only twenty minutes into his reading when he heard a commotion outside, and soon after the door burst open to reveal a hysterical young woman and the medic Sakura was speaking to earlier. His brain connected that she must be the wife of the man whose death he just witnessed.

The medic tried, and failed, to console the woman as she cried and demanded to see her husband. Sakura must've heard her too, because she suddenly appeared from a room at the back.

Sakura walked towards the woman, and Sasuke noticed the roseate's eyes soften a bit. Standing in front of the woman, Sakura spoke in a soft voice-

"I'm sorry for your loss, we did everything we could but-"

Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw Sakura's head whip to the side and the echo of a slap resonated through the room.

"You bitch! Aren't you the best out there? Isn't that why we called you?! Then why couldn't you save him?" she screamed through tears.

Slowly, Sakura straightened and looked at the blubbering woman in front of her. For a moment, Sasuke thought she was going to cry, but instead she spoke in a steady voice.

"I assure you I did everything I could, but I couldn't save him. I'm sorry, but I'll make sure his death is not in vain."

And with that, she stalked back to the room where she came from, gait as steady as ever.

* * *

The sky outside had darkened when Sasuke saw Sakura again. He was still sitting in the same chair she last saw him, and she walked up to him and asked him if he'd like to accompany her for dinner. Nodding slowly, Sasuke followed her out of the temporary hospital.

They arrived at a modest, dimly lit restaurant and placed their order. For most part of the meal, neither of them said a word. When it was time to leave, Sasuke turned to her.

"You should not have let her slap you, I know you saw it coming. It wasn't your fault."

A frown creased Sakura's forehead. "I know it wasn't my fault. But it made her feel better, so it's all right. People get hysterical when they lose someone they love, it's hard for them to think clearly, I guess you wouldn't know."

As soon as she said those words, her head whipped around to face a stunned Sasuke.

"Shit. I'm so sorry Sasuke-kun, I didn't mean to say that! I should not have said that."

But Sasuke wasn't thinking about the loss of his family.

He was thinking of a twelve year old girl crying on his chest in the land of waves, abandoning all the rules that had been drilled into her head, because she thought he had died.

 _'People get hysterical when they lose someone they love'_

He stood up and walked away.

* * *

 **A/N: And that winds up chapter two. Over 2k words, yasssss! Let me know what you thought of the chapter in the reviews!**  
 **ALSO! Make sure you check out the new oneshot I posted on my profile!**

PS- If you see any stray full stops before line breaks, it's because I was having some trouble making the line breaks appear without them. Gomen!


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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Sasuke sat on the settee by the window, staring up at a starless sky.

The events that conspired earlier that evening still ricocheted off the edges of his mind. He knew Sakura loved him, he was grateful for it when he was twelve and he's grateful for it now, but his chest still constricted painfully every time he saw that love manifest itself in the things she did and said. Earlier he thought the tightness in his ribs was because of guilt that he'd never been able to return her love.

But Sasuke was older, wiser, and far past denial now. He loved her. There was no running away from it. He'd loved her ever since he found warmth in the cocoon of her arms in the forest of death, warmth he knew he didn't deserve, but warmth that surrounded and healed him anyway.

But he was a boy carrying the weight of revenge and betrayal on shoulders, and the demons in his mind left little room for anything other than hatred. When he finally admitted to himself that he was in deep, he was already a man, standing at the gates of a village he was leaving for the second time.

He stared into bottle green eyes looking at him expectedly, the echo of her offer to accompany him still ringing in his ears (another hysterical promise made by someone on the verge of losing a loved one) and he knew he was in love with her.

He wanted nothing more than to accept her offer, take her hand, and travel the world with her. To see places he had seen before with new eyes and her by his side. But Sasuke knew he'd already used up his pitcher of selfishness for this lifetime, and he wasn't going to displace her from her rightful place in Konoha.

This time, though, he knew there was no reason to leave her with a farewell disguised as a thank you. Because this time he knew that, however far he treaded, he'd come back to those wide, green eyes.

His hand rose in the most sincere symbol of affection he knew and his knuckles grazed her forehead.

"I'll see you soon, Sakura."

.

.

Sasuke sighed, leaving his spot on the settee and collapsing on the bed of his motel room.

Throwing one arm over his eyes, he wondered why even after his epiphany his chest still tightened at her actions and words.

Sighing in defeat, Sasuke tried to regulate his breathing in an effort to fall asleep. He had almost lost himself to a world of dreams (which were surprisingly filled with a lot of pink and green) when he was jousted back to reality by a sharp sound emanating from his window.

Surprised, he blinked once, twice, before realizing that the sound was of a pebble hitting the window. Fanning his chakra out to detect the culprit, he was mildly surprised to sense Sakura's gentle chakra.

Walking towards the window, he threw open the shutters to see the same pink and green he was just about to dream of.

"Sakura?" he raised one angular brow in question.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun. I know this is wildly inappropriate, but can I come inside?" she replied, a sheepish smile playing on her lips.

He stared at her for a long moment before answering her question by moving aside. In one swift leap, she was on his window sill.

Throwing her legs inside the room, she gracefully got up and walked over to the tiny table that occupied the center of the room. Sasuke's eyes followed her languid movements as she placed a plastic bag on the table and sat down on the sofa next to it.

"Sasuke I-" she started, staring at the ground with a frown marring her forehead. "I'm sorry. About earlier tonight. I was way out of line."

Sasuke stared at her. These days it was hard to see traces of the girl he grew up with anymore, but no matter how much Sakura changed, her heart was still the same. She still couldn't hurt people.

' _No matter how much they deserve it_ ' his mind added bitterly.

How many hurtful things had he said to her without remorse? Yet, she couldn't return the gesture.

Eyes turning slightly downward, he answered. "Hn, it's okay Sakura."

"You could've waited till morning though." He added, turning around and walking towards the window to close it.

"Ah, I could've yes, that would have been the rational thing to do." She answered. "But I knew there was no way I'd get any sleep tonight if I didn't apologize right away."

Sasuke slowly nodded, then glanced in the direction of the bag she'd brought with her.

"That's some onigiri I picked up on the way, consider it a peace offering." She offered him a sheepish grin.

Sasuke looked amused as he eyed her and then the packet on the table.

Shaking his head, he exhaled an airy laugh.  
"Sakura, there was no need for all this."

"Tch, tch. I didn't ask. Just accept it graciously and thank my thoughtful, generous self." Said she, waving a hand in the air in dismissal.

"Aa." He smirked.

Moving forward, he picked up the packet she'd brought and moved to a chest of drawers by the door of the room. Pulling open one of the drawers, he pulled out some crockery and arranged the onigiri. Picking up the plates, he placed one in front of Sakura and sat down at the edge of the bed with the other.

He watched Sakura's eyes widen as she looked at the plate and then at him.

"Sasuke-kun, that's not necessary, I brought it all for you anyway." She said, frowning a little.

"Tch. Just accept it graciously and thank my thoughtful and generous self." He repeated her words from earlier, looking smug.

Sakura stared at him for a moment, and then the sound of her throaty laughter filled the room. At the back of his mind Sasuke wondered why the mirth in her eyes made him feel so accomplished.

Grinning widely, Sakura accepted the plate.

"Arigato, Sasuke-kun."

.

.

They ate in silence again, but this time the air around them felt lighter. There were no unvoiced questions lying suspended between them this time.

Some time between the meal the room was filled with the pitter patter of raindrops. The sound was gentle and meek in the beginning but gradually progressed into a thunderous roar, a soft drizzle turning into one of lightning's infamous thunderstorms.

They finished the onigiri, cleared away the utensils, and spoke a little about the disease that was rampant in the small town. Sakura tried her best to explain the terms Sasuke struggled to understand from the scroll earlier that morning, and did a fairly good job for most of the part.

Sensing the conversation was coming to a close, Sakura moved towards the window, intending to exit the way she had come in.

Opening the latches, Sakura lifted the window a little before Sasuke was behind her and shutting the window down again.

Turning around, she looked at him quizzically.

"Don't be stupid. You're not going out in the rain, spend the night here." He spoke, securing the latches once again.

"Sasuke, it's all right, I'm not staying far from here. I can probably make it in under a minute." She argued.

He sighed deeply.

"Sakura, just stay."

Her lips parted and her heart thundered wildly in her chest as her mind registered his words. The rush of blood in her ears was almost as loud as the thunderstorm raging outside.

Quietly, she nodded.

.

.

After much bickering, an exasperated Sasuke gave in to her request of she occupying the couch. He insisted she wasn't imposing but she wasn't hearing any of it.

He loaned her one of his t-shirts to sleep in and both of them settled in for the night.

After about twenty minutes of lying in silence, Sasuke spoke.

"Sakura?"

"Hm?"

"Why'd you use the window?"

Despite the darkness, Sasuke could see a faint blush dusting her cheeks.

"Well, I-err. Um." She stammered. "It was past midnight, Sasuke, I didn't want the lady at the reception to get any ideas about why I was visiting you this late." She finally bit out.

Despite himself, Sasuke chuckled.

 **A/N: HEYYYY I'm so sorry I know I didn't update last week but life has been especially unkind lately and I'm swamped with other work. I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again! I hope Sasuke doesn't seem too OOC. I imagine that he's a little more open now, considering he's on the road to recovery and everything. I also wanted to show how he's more at ease around Sakura. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know in the reviews!**

 **PS- I haven't had time to edit the chapter. I'll revise it in the morning.**

 **PPS- At this point I've just given up on line breaks.**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: I do not own Naruto. Or Pecha berries. (brownie points if you know where they're from!)**

.

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When Sasuke awakened the next morning, he was surprised to find hints of sunlight peeking through the cheap, grey drapes of the hotel room. Usually he'd awaken when the land was still dark and most life still slumbered peacefully. The early hours dawn were his most precious moments of the day, granting him time to gather his thoughts undisturbed. Groggily, he laid his sole arm across his eyes and sighed deeply.

Debating whether to get out of bed or to lay a few more minutes and enjoy the stillness of the morning, he failed to take in the other presence in the room until he heard a slight snore. Immediately sitting up, he turned his attention to the direction of the voice.

His heart almost stopped completely when he saw the Uchiha crest on the back of a slumbering body.

That is, until his eyes traced the upwards and absorbed the cotton candy hair sprayed on the couch, the events of last night making their way back to his mind.

Anger flared within him as he grounded his teeth.

' _It's still just me. I'm the only Uchiha left. I'm still alone_.'

An old, familiar dread coursed through him like the blood in his veins, soaking every cell in the same agony he experienced the first few weeks after the Uchiha Massacre, when he'd step out into empty streets of the once bustling Uchiha compound before realizing that everyone in his family was gone, never to return.

But this time, there would be no one to blame, no thirst for vengeance granting him purpose. Every muscle in his body coiled as he felt himself slipping back into the darkness he'd been running from, until a voice shook him out of his reverie.

"Sasuke-kun? You okay?"

He opened his tightly shut eyes and raised his head to look at Sakura slowly awakening, her fight against sleep evident by the frown on her forehead and the yawn breaking past her mouth.

He took in a deep breath before answering, "Aa. I'm fine."

He could tell by the look on her face that she hadn't bought it, and he felt his fists clench into the sheets as he watched her shrug off the covers and pad across the floor towards him. He felt a dip in the space beside him on the bed and dreaded the questions that would follow, but his eyes widened when instead of hearing her voice, he felt her chakra stream into his system.

He turned his head to look at her eyes closed in concentration, and followed the length of her arm to where her hand had clasped the top of his, an ethereal blue aura surrounding it. She seemed to have heard all his questions before he found the strength to voice them.

"It's an old meditation trick. It sends some chakra to your lungs to even out your breathing, and the rest of it flows through the nervous system and calms it down." She said, eyes still closed. "We are taught how to use it on ourselves when we begin medical training, so we don't have a panic attack when we witness a particularly gruesome injury, but with a little bit of chakra control and modulation, you can use it on someone else just like medical nin-jutsu."

Sasuke listened to her explanation wordlessly. Normally he would never allow someone else to infect his system with their chakra until there was no other way out, but the soft warmth of Sakura's chakra as it traveled through his system like a wave of serenity wasn't entirely an unwelcome sensation and he made no move to stop her. Letting his eyes slip shut, he focused on the way that everything her chakra touched within him became rid of the darkness that was threatening to consume him.

Acting on instinct, he turned his wrist and let his fingers intertwine with hers. He felt her eyes land on him, probably in surprise he reasoned, but the flow of her chakra remained ceaseless.

Sitting there, basking in the warmth of the sun rising outside the window, he let her chakra replace his anger with something that felt an awful lot like hope.

' _I am the last Uchiha, but maybe I'm not that alone_.'

.

.

Twenty minutes later, as Sasuke stepped out from the bathroom, Sakura was sitting on the bed with the clothes she borrowed last night sitting folded beside her.

"Thanks for letting me spend the night, Sasuke. I should go now, there's a lot of work to be done at the hospital."

Nodding slightly, he wiped his face with a washcloth to wipe off the water from his shave.

She gestured to the Tshirt beside her "I'll take this with me and return it to you when I wash it."

"There's no need for that. I'll throw it in the wash here."

Biting her lip, she answered. "If you say so." Climbing on the sill of the window she used to enter last night, she spoke again. "Well, I'll be off then. Ja ne, Sasuke-kun."

Without waiting for a response she jumped down into the street, not that there was one coming.

Walking over to the bed, Sasuke picked up the folded t-shirt and moved to throw it into the washing machine, but stopped when he caught a whiff of her scent in the garment. Toying with it for a while, he inhaled her subtle, fruity scent that reminded him far too much of his childhood days as a genin.

Tossing it into the washer, he turned around and inspected the room. The sheets folded on the couch and the bed, two plates instead of one on the table, the lingering presence of a second person in the room. Smirking a bit, he decided that some company now and then wasn't so bad.

.

.

A little over an hour later, Sasuke walked down the well worn paths that lead out of the village. Instead of continuing on the main road when he reached the outskirts, he abandoned the path and moved into the forest surrounding the village.

Activating his sharingan, he looked around for any evidence that might suggest ninja activity in the vicinity.

He walked for a few miles without detecting anything until he encountered a young shrub laden with berries near the south entrance of the village. Plucking the fruit, he raised it up to his eye level and examined it closely. He recognized it as a pecha berry in an instant, he'd often snack on those when he would travel, but something about this berry didn't seem quite right. A faint, almost undetectable trace of chakra clung to its coat. If it weren't for his Sharingan, Sasuke was certain he'd never notice it.

Gently, he placed it into his gear pouch. If it was in any way connected to the epidemic in Tohuko, examining it further would be Sakura's job. Turning around, he walked back the way he came.

.

.

When Sasuke arrived at the makeshift hospital in Tohuko, there was a flurry of activity going on inside. Sensing Sakura's chakra signature upstairs, he connected that another one of the patients must be convulsing.

Climbing two steps at a time, Sasuke made it up in a few seconds. He was greeted by the sight of Sakura and four other medic nin pouring their chakra into a child no older than ten who was thrashing wildly under their finger tips.

The medics frowned in concentration as they worked and growled in frustration as nothing seemed to work. An ear shattering scream erupted from the small boy and his wild movements began to slow down until he went limp. Sasuke watched as confusion washed over the medics and they tried to plot their next move, until Sakura spoke in a low voice through gritted teeth.

"Get back."

The medics stood stunned for a moment until she spoke again, louder this time. "I said GET BACK!"

Quickly everyone surrounding the young boy scrambled to move away. Sasuke's mouth parted in amazement as he watched the purple diamond in the middle of her forehead began to glow and streaks of black emanating from it coiled around her body. The green glow from her hands turned into bright, white light, forming a cocoon around the boy.

A collective gasp arose from the room as the lifeless boy's eyes shot open.

.

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 **A/N: I'm a horrible person that doesn't deserve your faith. I'm so sorry! I know I said I'd update weekly, but I've got uni exams going on and I am so, so overworked. But I'm very thankful for your support and I promise you i have some great things planned for this story! This chapter is a little short, my apologies, but I thought I should at least update with something. Longer, more action packed chapters coming soon!**

 **Also, shoutout to BlueRose238! Your review made my get off my ass and write this thing. Thank you! To everyone else who reviewed, I'm sorry if I haven't replied yet, but I will as soon as I get the time. I'm truly very grateful for your feedback!**

 **ALSOOOO, did you check out my latest story? It's called count the flaws in perfection, go read!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

 **Note: thank you for reviewing and favoriting! It keeps me fueled! :)**

* * *

Silence reigned across the room as Sakura continued to pump chakra into the once lifeless boy. Activating his sharingan, Sasuke watched as her chakra flooded the boy's system and manually made every organ work. It wrapped around his lungs, pumped his heart, willed his blood to flow, kept his neurons firing, kept him _alive._

The rest of her chakra inspected the length and breadth of his body as if trying to locate the origin of the disease, but Sasuke guessed it was to no avail when her face contorted in an expression of anger and frustration. Her chakra began to recede from his body and Sasuke assumed she had given up, but his eyes widened she gathered chakra back in her palms and forced it through his body with twice the intensity.

He watched as white chakra coursed through the boy's body, destroying every cell it touched. He opened his mouth to question her motives when his sharingan eye detected a second wave of chakra closely following the first one, repairing all the tissue and rebuilding every organ. No one in the room moved an inch as Sakura worked on the boy. It felt like an eternity had passed since she began destroying and restoring the boy's body, until both the waves culminated in the boys heart.

Sasuke stood bewildered, trying to grasp the magnitude of chakra required for the feat he had just witnessed and assumed his estimate was correct when Sakura detached her hands from the boy's body, swayed, and began to fall.

Moving before anyone in the room could grasp what had just happened, he caught her limp body before it hit the floor. He glanced at her face, covered in a glean of sweat and twisted in pain, and wondered if he had truly comprehended the extent her strength till now.

Summoning a susanoo arm he lifted Sakura and moved towards the door. Medics rushed forward to inspect her but stopped when her feeble voice spoke barely an octave above a whisper.

"Tend to the boy. He still has chakra burns on his epidermis." pausing to breathe, as if the sentence had sapped all her strength, she spoke again. "I'm just tired, I'll heal on my own."

The medics looked skeptical, but knew from experience it was better not to question their taichou. As they went to work on the boy, Sasuke carried her downstairs. Sakura only spoke again when he began to push the door of the temporary hospital with his back.

"Sasuke-kun, where are you taking me? There's a spare bed in the infirmary, I'll rest there."

Choosing to not respond, Sasuke continued on his way. He thought she might argue more, but she only closed her eyes and let head loll against his chest. He frowned a little when he imagined just how tired she must be if the normally feisty girl could not push an argument, and his feet began to move faster.

Taking her to his room at the inn, he laid her down on his bed and disappeared from her sight for a few moments. By the time he returned, she was already asleep.

Nudging her awake, he offered her a glass of water. Smiling at him listlessly, she attempted to sit up but her arms shook violently. Silently Sasuke sat down on the bed, close to her, such that she could lean some of her weight against his chest, and handed her the glass of water which she drank gratefully.

He remained sitting behind her as she finished the water and gulped down heavy breaths of air, as if tired from running a marathon. Twiddling strands of her hair between his thumb and forefinger, he spoke.

"You need rest. If you had stayed in the hospital you would have been far too distracted by the patients there."

Sakura frowned at his sudden statement, before realizing that he was justifying why he brought her to his room instead of leaving her at the hospital, as she had questioned earlier.

Smiling softly, she whispered, "Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

She felt rather than heard his grunt of acknowledgement as it rumbled in his chest, before he got up and used his sole arm to cradle her head as he lowered her back down. In less than a moment, she was asleep.

Hovering a moment to take in her sleeping form he activated his sharingan, and then just as quickly he turned it off and left the room to allow her to rest.

* * *

When Sakura awakened from her slumber, the sky outside was already dark and Sasuke wasn't present in the room. Sitting up, she closed her eyes and began to meditate.

Glancing inside herself, it was clear to her that only a fraction of her chakra had returned, but other than that her body seemed to have recovered fairly well. Inhaling deeply, she let the air saturate her lungs and continued her mediation.

Her attention returned to reality when she heard the door open and she popped open one eye to see Sasuke entering the room. Looking at her comical expression, Sasuke snorted and she stuck out her tongue at him. Smirking lightly and shaking his head, he plopped down on the couch.

Sitting on the edge of the bed to face him, feet brushing the floor, Sakura spoke.

"Where did you go?"

In the middle of removing his shoes, he answered. "Hospital."

Immediately her humor was replaced with seriousness as she asked, "How's Hideki? The boy?"

"He's fine now. Was complaining of soreness but he seems completely freed from the illness." setting his shoes aside, he laid his head against the couch. "What did you do to him?"

Sakura frowned as she looked down at the floor.

"First I used my chakra to keep all his organs working while I looked for what was causing the illness, but I've already scouted the other patients for the source and each time I found nothing, this time was no different."

She sighed before continuing.

"Without eliminating the cause, the only thing I could do was suppress the symptoms, but that would only work so long. Instead I used chakra to incinerate all his tissue and rebuild it immediately after. Since the tissue was new, it was free from any disease."

"So you built his body back from scratch?" Sasuke commented, raising an eyebrow.

She smiled softly as she raised her head to look at him. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Still-" her smile dropped, "-the kind of chakra it requires, I can't do that on all the patients. We need to find a real cure, Sasuke."

Wordlessly, Sasuke left his position on the couch and moved towards the desk at the far end of the room. Opening the top drawer, he picked up the Pecha berry he had found earlier that day and placed it on the coffee table between the sofa and the bed.

Looking at it, Sakura frowned. "That's a pecha berry, isn't it? What about it?"

"I found it earlier today in the forest when I went scouting. There's a sheen of chakra surrounding it." he explained.

Getting up from the bed, Sakura sat down on the floor in front of the coffee table ans inspected the berry in front of her.

"You think this is what might have caused the disease?" she inferred from his explanation.

Shrugging, Sasuke took the spot on the floor in front of Sakura. "That's for you to find out." he said.

Nodding, Sakura got up to go get a knife from the cabinet by the door and reclaimed her previous position. Slicing it open, she peered inside.

It appeared normal at first glance, but Sakura expected as much. Summoning a minuscule amount of chakra to her finger tips, she let it spread through the berry, trying to find anything abnormal.

A minute later she spoke. "Sasuke, look."

Stretching his neck, he turned his attention to what Sakura was pointing at. It was hard to spot at first, but his trained ninja eyes quickly picked up fine chakra fibers embedded into the fruits, brought to the surface by Sakura's chakra.

Returning her chakra back to her body, Sakura quickly performed some hand signs to summon a scroll from a seal on her wrist. Sasuke was about to chastise her for using chakra in her chakra deprived state but she quickly slammed the scroll down on the table and opened it.

Picking up one half of the berry. she squeezed it until a few drops of it's juice fell on the the center of the inscriptions of the scroll. Immediately, the letters around it began to glow and the drops of juice in the center began to change color.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke questioned.

"Well, chakra as a whole is easy to detect when it's inside someone's body because it takes their distinct shape, which is why you and I can detect chakra signatures. It's like a recognizing someone's face." she explained. "But when there are traces of chakra left behind, it's still possible to analyze them and pinpoint whom it might belong to. Similar to the way you can't recognize to whom a strand of hair belongs to straight away, but by analyzing the DNA from the hair root, the identity of the person can be known."

Sasuke nodded, absorbing all the information.

"Of course, just like analyzing DNA, it's necessary to have a sample directly from the source to compare the two, but I've been working with poisons for years and I've encountered the chakra maps of many, many poison experts. It's a gamble, but maybe I'll recognize this one." she said.

A few moments after she had spoken, the inscription on the scroll stopped glowing and more letters began to appear on the scroll. Sitting up straighter, she gets to work and starts deciphering the scroll.

Her eyebrows remain furrowed in concentration for a long time before she takes in a sharp intake of breath.

Immediately alert, Sasuke asks "What is it?"

"I know this chakra," Sakura says, traces of disbelief etched on her face, "This is... This is Chiyo Baa-sama's chakra."

* * *

 **A/N: Believe it or not, I actually do try to write longer chapters. But I just...can't. I'm sorry.**

 **How do you like where the story is heading, eh guys? Also, that bit about Sasuke activating his sharingan when Sakura was sleeping, I will tie it to the story eventually. Till then, keep speculating. And if Sasuke seems a bit yappy to you, I apologize. I try to keep him in character as much as possible, but since the curse of hatred has been lifted, I imagine he's a leeedul bit more open now.**

 **Review, you wonderful people!**


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